FAMU athletics finally has a balanced budget

TALLAHASSEE, Florida -- For the first time in more than a decade, Florida A&M’s athletic department has a balanced yearly budget.

Athletic Director Milton Overton Jr. on Wednesday told members of the university’s Special Committee on Athletics he managed to turn a projected 2016-17 year-end deficit of $651,724 into a surplus of more than $9,000.

Overton announced the original budget shortfall in December.

It wasn’t easy – Overton insisted it wasn’t a one-man effort – but Wednesday’s announcement marks a reversal of years of overspending from the athletic department.

“There were a couple of things we did to address this deficit,” Overton told the committee. “Obviously, we reduced our expenses and increased our revenue. We reduced some salaries. We’re a little more efficient in terms of personnel and how we do business.”

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Salwan: 1st CoSIDA Academic All-American from tennis

NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana's Karan Salwan was named Monday to the 2016-17 Academic All-America College Division Men's At-Large Team, making him the first XULA tennis player to receive this honor.
     
Academic All-America teams in the College Division are comprised of student-athletes from NAIA, Canadian and two-year institutions and selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Beginning in 2008-09, eight XULA student-athletes have earned a combined 12 berths on Academic All-America teams. CoSIDA has sponsored the Academic All-America program since 1952.
     
Salwan, from New Delhi, India, attended XULA the past two years after transferring from NCAA Division I Utah State. The business management major graduated cum laude from XULA May 13 and with honors in business. On the court Salwan was NAIA All-America both seasons and helped the Gold Rush finish second in the 2016 and 2017 NAIA National Championships. Those are the only XULA teams in any sport to reach the final round of an NAIA national tournament.
     
"Karan has been a great addition to our program. He has probably been one of the smartest players I've ever had on the court," XULA coach Alan Green said. "He has also had one of our highest GPAs. He shows great respect to opposing players and coaches, and he has shown great leadership with our younger guys, using his experience to teach them how to be good team college tennis players. He has also been actively involved in the community with several service projects, most notably with the Salvation Army."

XULA's All-Time List of Academic All-Americans (chosen by the College Sports Information Directors of America)
Year	Name	Sport	Team
2008-09	Joe Drexler-Dreis	Men's Track and Field/Cross Country	Second Team
2011-12	Matt Pieri	Men's Track and Field/Cross Country	Second Team
2011-12	Javon Mead	Men's Track and Field/Cross Country	Third Team
2012-13	Taylor Reuther	Women's Volleyball	Third Team
2012-13	Matt Pieri	Men's Track and Field/Cross Country	Second Team
2012-13	Javon Mead	Men's Track and Field/Cross Country	Third Team
2012-13	Catherine Fakler	Women's Track and Field/Cross Country	Second Team
2012-13	Devinn Rolland	Women's Track and Field/Cross Country	Second Team
2014-15	Catherine Fakler	Women's Track and Field/Cross Country	First Team
2014-15	Devinn Rolland	Women's Track and Field/Cross Country	First Team
2015-16	Brent Kitto	Men's Track and Field/Cross Country	Second Team
2016-17	Karan Salwan	Men's Tennis (at-large)	Second Team

Karan Salwan's XULA Honors

2015-16 •  NAIA All-America first team — selected by an NAIA committee •  NAIA All-America — selected by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association •  ITA Scholar-Athlete •  Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Honor Roll •  Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Player of the Week (four times: Jan. 25-31, Feb. 1-7, Feb. 8-14 and April 18-24) •  All-Louisiana first team •  Louisiana Newcomer of the Year 2016-17 •  NAIA All-America second team — selected by an NAIA committee •  CoSIDA Academic All-America, College Division at-large second team •  CoSIDA Academic All-District, College Division District 2 at-large •  NAIA Champions of Character •  Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Player of the Week (Jan. 23-29) •  All-Louisiana honorable mention Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director XULAgold.com XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA  twitter.com/xulagold www.facebook.com/xulagold

End Of The Ride: B-CU's Run Stalls in Regional Final

GAINESVILLE, Florida -- Bethune-Cookman's wondrous run through the 2017 NCAA Gainesville Regional ended Monday with a 6-1 loss to the host University of Florida before a McKethan Stadium crowd of 2,166 and an internet thoroughly enamored by the Wildcats' bleached beards. And calm demeanor, despite the situation. And passion. And, well, everything about the program.

After losing to Bethune-Cookman for the first time in 31 meetings on Sunday night, the No. 3 national seed Florida Gators (45-17) got a three-run homer and a solid pitching effort from freshman lefty Austin Langworthy to advance to next weekend's Super Regionals, where they will host Wake Forest beginning Friday.

Bethune-Cookman, which defeated two nationally ranked teams in USF and Florida on Sunday and posted more regional victories (three) in 36 hours than the two in the previous 36 years, concludes the season at 36-25 with its 19th Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) championship. The 36 victories are the most in season in the Jason Beverlin era and third-most in program history.

Langworthy's yard shot broke open a scoreless tie. Before that, Florida put men on second and third on a questionable no-call on an infield error that appeared to cause interference from the batter trotting to first on the pop-up to first baseman Danny Rodriguez.

Bethune-Cookman broke the shutout in the seventh when Kyle Corbin scored from second when Josten Heron beat out a two-out infield single, cutting the deficit to 4-1.

Two teams supposedly all but depleted of pitching put on a defensive display the first five innings.

Bethune-Cookman forced Florida to leave eight runners in scoring position before the sixth, while the Gators limited the Wildcats to three hits during that time and seven overall.

Tyler Krull started, working three scoreless innings before yielding to Joseph Calamita. Isaak Gutierrez and Nate Sterijevski aBOXlso worked relief.

Adonis Lao and Heron each had two hits for the Wildcats.

For the tournament, Sterijevski finished with a .500 average (10-20) with one home run and eight RBI. Lao hit .352 (6-17) while Austin Garcia batted .333 (5-15).

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Repairs to FAMU's Bragg Stadium to be completed by July

TALLAHASSEE, Florida -- Mandatory repairs to Florida A&M's Bragg Memorial Stadium are on schedule to be completed before the Aug. 26 start of football season.

A Power Point presentation that will be shown to the FAMU Board of Trustees' budget, finance and facilities committee on Wednesday shows the final cost of the repairs will be $390,968.35 -- a huge drop from the original estimated cost of $622,000.

The new, lower cost was provided by Tallahassee-based Barkley Consulting Engineers.

The Power Point says the repairs should be complete by the end of July. FAMU opens its season with the Jake Gaither Classic on Aug. 26 against Texas Southern.

The most recent competition held at Bragg was FAMU's spring game. Sections of the stadium were taped off during that game.

According to the Power Point, the scope of the work includes metal structural fabrications, cast in place reinforced concrete and masonry electrical, plumbing and selective painting.

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Pair of former Hampton Pirates coaches on College Football Hall of Fame ballot

IRVING, Texas – The National Football Foundation (NFF) & College Hall of Fame announced Thursday the names on the 2018 ballot for induction into the College Football Hall of Fame, including 75 players and six coaches from the Football Bowl Subdivision and 98 players and 31 coaches from the divisional ranks.

The announcement of the 2018 Class will be made Monday, Jan. 8, 2018, in Atlanta. The city is serving as the host for the CFP National Championship, which will be played later that day at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Some of the inductees will be on site during the announcement to represent the class and share their thoughts on being elected. The Jan. 8 announcement will be televised live, and specific viewing information will be available as the date draws near. A few inductees will also participate in the pregame festivities and the coin toss before the championship game.



2018 DIVISIONAL COACH CANDIDATES

Gideon Smith -- Hampton (1921-40) - Led Pirates to 1922 Black College National Championship… Recorded four CIAA titles and two unbeaten seasons in career…Longest tenured coach in Hampton history, boasting the second-most wins all-time at the school.

Joe Taylor -- Howard (1983), Virginia Union (1984-91), Hampton (1992-07), Florida A&M (2008-12) - Winningest coach in Hampton history (74%), leading Pirates to four Black College National Championships…Led teams to 10 conference titles and 10 playoff appearances throughout career…Four-time MEAC Coach of the Year.

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Florida A&M Rattlers Jake Gaither Classic still not finalized

TALLAHASSEE, Florida -- The Week Zero lineup is falling into place with FCS games, so is the inaugural Jake Gaither Classic next?

ESPN announced on Wednesday a restructured schedule of games for Aug. 26 and 27. The lineup did not include the Jake Gaither Classic, which matches SWAC member Texas Southern at MEAC member Florida A&M in Tallahassee, but the cable television giant is said to be seeking a game time that weekend for one of its family of networks.



The NCAA doesn't allow Division I programs to begin their seasons until the Thursday preceding Labor Day, but there is an "FCS First Contest Exception" in the NCAA Bylaws, which allows for two non-conference programs to face each other prior to that Thursday (this year, it's Aug. 31) as long as they are playing in a nationally televised contest (broadcast or cable, not Internet-only). They are considered Week Zero games.

ESPN networks are televising Chattanooga-Jacksonville State and Colgate-Cal Poly matchups on Aug. 26 and Richmond-Sam Houston State on Aug. 27. All three games have 7:05 p.m. ET kickoffs.

Texas Southern and Florida A&M announced their matchup in January. The holdup with the kickoff could involve game-time parameters due to summer heat.

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B-CU Advances to First Baseball Regional Final

GAINESVILLE, Florida. -- Bethune-Cookman made history Sunday with a 6-4 victory over South Florida in the NCAA Gainesville [Fla.] Regional at McKethan Stadium.

Nate Sterijevski, Austin Garcia and Demetrius Sims each had two hits, while Alex Herrera, Ivan Countinho and Joseph Calamita combined to throw six consecutive shutout innings to help the Wildcats (35-24) pull away from a 3-3 tie and advance to a regional final for the first time in program history.

Bethune-Cookman will face host Florida at 7 p.m.



South Florida (42-19) took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first on Kevin Merrell's solo homer, but the Wildcats answered by scoring three runs without hitting the ball out of the infield.

Sims scored on Danny Rodriguez's infield single, Adonis Lao when Garcia drew a bases-loaded walk, and Jameel Edney plated on a double play to make it a 3-1 game.

After the Bulls tied the game with two in the second, Sterijevski smacked a two-run homer to left in the third to help the Wildcats regain a two-run lead. Lao singled home Josten Heron in the fourth.

Herrera (4-1) buckled down after giving up six hits in the first two innings, giving up just two hits over the next four innings before yielding to Countinho, who worked two-innings of one hit relief.

Calamita entered in the eighth and squashed a Bulls rally with just five pitches. He gave up a harmless home run to Tyler Dietrich in the ninth en route to his third save of the season.

Donte Lindsay will start for the Wildcats tonight.

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